Handmade Oak Stool with Leather Strap Top, Arts & Crafts Late 19th Century

The stool is made of solid oak. The frame joints into four legs with ring turned detail and with four jointed rectangular cross stretchers between the legs, making this a very strong construction. The seat top is made of interwoven reddish-brown leather straps which sit on fabric webbing below the leather and give additional support to the seat. The seat is finished off with four narrow leather strips that run along the lower seat edge, one on each side, that are secured by brass nail studs.

The stool has developed a good patina from age and use and the reddish-brown leather has a deep natural mature shine, only achieved by repeated polishing and use over the years.

This piece is made in the 17th century Jacobean style but we date the stool to the late 19th century, made in the English Arts & Crafts period of the late 19th century.

Please note the images are taken both indoors and outdoors in different light conditions.

Notes on English leather topped seating
Leather covers on English seating dates back to the middle ages and the 16th century. Mature leather seats can be as tough and polished as the wood of the frame itself. During the reign of Elizabeth 1st a simple leather back stool became very popular and were in production through the 17th century and later.
A stool of the type in this listing, dating to circa 1680, and of the same leather strap and webbing construction is shown in Figure 2:145, page 135 of the book, oak furniture the British Tradition, written by Victor Chinnery, published by The Antique Collectors’ Club.